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'Squad' member Ilhan Omar in spat with president of former 'murder capital' ahead of his re-election

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'Squad' member Ilhan Omar in spat with president of former 'murder capital' ahead of his re-election

El Salvador voters stand poised to re-elect their current president and self-styled “world’s coolest dictator” Nayib Bukele in a landslide victory after he rehabilitated his country’s crime-ridden reputation.

“The opposition will be able to achieve its true and only plan, to free the gang members and use them to return to power,” Bukele warned in a video that quickly spread across social media and news outlets in El Salvador. 

Bukele’s controversial tenure as leader of the Central American country looks set to continue, thanks to a revamp of the constitutional courts in which he replaced judges with loyalists who ruled that he could run for a second term despite a constitutional ban on reelections. 

Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., called into question the U.S. relationship with El Salvador and urged the U.S. State Department to review its relationship with the Central American country, alleging that Bukele presented “threats to democracy.” 

EL SALVADOR’S BUKELE, AN ANTI-GANG HARDLINER, TAKES REELECTION BID ABROAD

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“The Salvadoran people deserve free and fair elections without fear of repression,” Omar wrote on social media platform X. 

A community note on her post noted that Bukele won the 2019 election with a 54% majority and that his crackdown on gang violence has helped cement his immense popularity with a 91% approval rating among voters. 

Bukele shot back at Omar, joking that he felt “honored” to “receive your attacks,” saying he would be very worried if she had backed him in the election. 

Bukele came to power in 2019 and clashed with the Legislative Assembly over policies, including severe restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic. His party took control of the national congress in 2021 and started instituting sweeping changes to other branches of government and instituting new laws that allowed him to effectively go to war with the gangs in his country. 

WHO IS GUATEMALA’S NEW PRESIDENT AND CAN HE DELIVER ON PROMISED CHANGE?

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Once known as the “murder capital” of the world, El Salvador underwent significant reforms that allowed the government to sweep up alleged gang members by the hundreds and shove them into a rapidly established super prison. 

President of El Salvador Nayib Bukele speaks during the inauguration of a new Vijosa Laboratories plant on November 20, 2023, in La Libertad, El Salvador.  (Alex Peña/Getty Images)

The prison, built in just months during 2022, can hold up to 40,000 people and has thousands of military personnel guarding it. Bukele made sure to share plenty of video and pictures of the prison and its first few thousands of occupants. 

The measures, which ultimately swept up many potentially innocent men, led to a drop in the murder and crime rates over the following year. Salvadorian Justice and Security Minister Gustavo Villatoro claimed that the country recorded 154 murders in 2023, marking a 70% drop from the previous year. 

Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., is seen in the U.S. Capitol’s Rayburn Room during a group photo with the Congressional Black Caucus, on Wednesday, April 6, 2022.  (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

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That would account for a rate of 2.4 per every 100,000 people, which would potentially rank as the lowest in the Americas, apart from Canada, according to Reuters. 

FORMER PANAMA PRESIDENT’S MONEY LAUNDERING SENTENCE STANDS, LIKELY DOOMING ELECTION PROSPECTS THIS YEAR

During an interview with Fox News Digital in May 2023, Bukele’s vice president and running mate Felix Ulloa claimed his country would “face the problem” of gang violence and urged the United States to invest in the country so that it could continue to crack down on criminals. 

Prison agents observe gang members as they are processed at their arrival after 2000 gang members were transferred to the Terrorism Confinement Center, according to El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele, in Tecoluca, El Salvador, in this handout distributed to Reuters on February 24, 2023. (Secretaria de Prensa de la Presidencia/Handout via Reuters.)

Ulloa argued that if El Salvador and other countries could similarly deal with their crime crises, it would help alleviate the migrant crisis on the U.S. southern border, as many of those who flee to the north do so to escape their crime-ridden homeland. 

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El Salvador’s success has boosted Bukele’s popularity so much that other countries, such as Honduras and the Dominican Republic, have looked to replicate the model, which has raised concerns from civil rights advocates.

Gang members wait to be taken to their cell after 2000 gang members were transferred to the Terrorism Confinement Center, according to El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele, in Tecoluca, El Salvador, in this handout distributed to Reuters on March 15, 2023.  (Secretaria de Prensa de la Presidencia/Handout via Reuters)

Ulloa admitted to The Associated Press this week that the government “made mistakes” in detaining thousands of innocent people as part of their regular sweeps, which often profile young men under the fear of gang involvement. 

Ulloa insisted that El Salvador “is not a police state” but rather “a state that provides security.” Bukele continues to insist that if he loses the election, it would “put at risk” the country’s “war with the gangs.” 

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Critics also point to other troubling developments in the legislature, such as Bukele’s efforts to slash the number of municipalities, which could help ensure his victory and party superiority in local and congressional elections in March. 

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report. 

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Israeli Strikes Kill a Journalist and Injure Another in Lebanon

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Israeli Strikes Kill a Journalist and Injure Another in Lebanon

Israeli strikes killed one journalist and wounded another in southern Lebanon on Wednesday, rattling a tenuous cease-fire between Israel and Lebanon.

The Lebanese Ministry of Public Health said the Israeli military had targeted the journalists in the town of Tayri, where they took shelter in a nearby house after an airstrike struck a vehicle in front of the car they were traveling in. About an hour and a half later, a second strike hit the house they were hiding in, according to a statement by a Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar, which employed the journalist who was killed.

The Lebanese Red Cross said its teams came under fire while trying to evacuate the journalists from the house, forcing them to withdraw. The rescue crews were targeted by a warning strike and machine-gun fire, the Lebanese health ministry said.

Zeinab Faraj, a photojournalist, was rescued from the house. The other journalist, Amal Khalil, who was a reporter for Al-Akhbar, remained trapped under rubble for hours before emergency medics recovered her body, according to the Lebanese Civil Defense.

In addition to Ms. Khalil, the two people in the car in front of her were killed in the strikes, Al-Akhbar reported.

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Amid the 10-day truce between Israel and Lebanon, Israel has continued strikes against what it says are Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon, citing its right to self-defense. Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed militia group, said that it had fired rockets and drones into Israel on Tuesday in response to what it said were violations of the cease-fire. Earlier on Wednesday, the Lebanese News Agency reported that an Israeli drone strike killed one person and wounded two others in another part of the country.

The Lebanese health ministry called the strikes in Tayri a “blatant double breach, involving both the obstruction of rescue efforts for a civilian known for her media and humanitarian work, and the direct targeting of an ambulance clearly marked with the Red Cross.”

The Israeli military denied in a statement that it had prevented rescuers from reaching the injured journalists, and said the incident was under investigation.

A spokeswoman for the Israeli military said Israeli forces had spotted two vehicles emerging from a military building used by Hezbollah. The military observed the vehicles cross what the spokeswoman called the forward defense line, determining the move to be a violation of the truce agreement.

The spokeswoman confirmed that the Israeli military had struck one of the vehicles and the building some of the occupants of the second vehicle had taken shelter in.

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Ms. Khalil had covered southern Lebanon, where Hezbollah exercises strong control, since at least 2006. In a tribute to Ms. Khalil, a colleague from Al-Akhbar said she embodied the resilience of the southern Lebanese through her relentless reporting, refusing to leave the front lines of war where thousands of Lebanese had been displaced.

“As with every act of aggression, wearing a press vest did not protect those who wore it from the treachery of the Israeli enemy,” Al-Akhbar said in a statement. “Instead, it has become a danger to journalists’ lives, as part of a systematic Israeli policy aimed at silencing anyone who seeks to expose the crimes and practices of the occupation.”

In a forceful statement on social media, Nawaf Salam, the Lebanese prime minister, accused the Israeli military of war crimes for targeting journalists and obstructing access to medical aid. He said that Lebanon would pursue action to ensure Israel is held accountable with international bodies.

The Committee to Protect Journalists said that it was outraged by the attack, and that it raised serious concerns of deliberate targeting.

“The repeated strikes on the same location, the targeting of an area where journalists were sheltering, and the obstruction of medical and humanitarian access constitute a grave breach of international humanitarian law,” said Sara Qudah, CPJ’s regional director for the Middle East and North Africa.

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Former Mexican beauty queen found shot dead as investigators examine possible family involvement: reports

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Former Mexican beauty queen found shot dead as investigators examine possible family involvement: reports

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A former Mexican beauty queen was found shot to death in her Mexico City apartment, with investigators examining the possible involvement of her mother-in-law, according to local reports.

Carolina Flores Gómez, 27, was found dead inside an apartment in the Polanco neighborhood, one of the city’s most affluent areas, Reporte Índigo, a Mexico-based news outlet, reported. 

Authorities said the death is being investigated as a homicide, after initial findings indicated she suffered a gunshot wound to the head. Emergency responders were called to the scene, where paramedics confirmed she showed no signs of life.

Prosecutors are investigating whether Flores Gómez’s mother-in-law, Erika María, as well as a man described in reports as her partner or husband, may have been involved in her death.

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Carolina Flores Gómez was found shot dead in her luxury apartment April 15 in Mexico City. Her mother-in-law has been named the main suspect in the suspected homicide. (Jam Press)

The man, identified as Alejandro, accused his mother of killing Flores Gómez, Mexican news outlet Azteca Guerrero reported.

The outlet also reported that the woman’s mother-in-law was present at the scene when the gun was fired and that authorities are looking into the timeline of when the incident was reported.

WIDOW, SON OF LATE CHICAGO COMMISSIONER FOUND SHOT DEAD INSIDE HOME IN SUSPECTED HOMICIDE

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Mexican prosecutors have opened a homicide with intent case in the death of former beauty queen Carolina Flores Gómez.  (Jam Press)

Preliminary reports cited by Mexican news outlet Diario Puntual indicate that a security guard at the building did not hear gunshots, adding uncertainty about how the crime occurred.

Authorities in Baja California, Mexico, also responded to the case, Diario Puntual reported.

CIA PERSONNEL KILLED IN MEXICO CRASH TIED TO CARTEL OPERATION; QUESTIONS MOUNT OVER US ROLE

Former beauty queen Carolina Flores Gómez, 27, was found dead in her Mexico City apartment. (Jam Press)

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Baja California Gov. Marina del Pilar Ávila Olmeda expressed solidarity with the victim’s family and called for the case to be clarified. 

State prosecutor María Elena Andrade Ramírez also said there is coordination with Mexico City authorities to support the investigation.

Flores Gómez previously competed in beauty pageants and was crowned Miss Teen Universe Baja California in 2017.

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The case has drawn attention in Mexico amid ongoing concerns about violence against women, with advocacy groups calling for a thorough investigation into the circumstances surrounding her death.

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The investigation into the matter is open and ongoing.

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‘Blockade and threats’: Iran blames US siege of ports for stalled talks

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‘Blockade and threats’: Iran blames US siege of ports for stalled talks
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